Significance of interleukin-17 and tumor necrosis factor alpha detection in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases

Objective To investigate the significance of interleukin-17(IL-17),tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-α)and high sensitive C-reactive protein(hsCRP)in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases(COPD).Method Sputum was obtained in patients with COPD both during acute exacerbation and stable stage,healthy nonsmoking volunteers were induced as controls.The concentrations of IL-17 and TNF-α in induced sputum were measured by ELISA and hsCRP by nephelometry method.Results The levels of IL-17,TNF-α and hsCRP in COPD with acute exacerbation were(148.4±15.2)pg/ml,(14.5±4.3)ng/L and(126.5±24.5)mg/L,respectively.They were significantly higher than that in stable stage and in the controls(P0.01).The level of IL-17 in stable stage was significantly higher than that in the controls(P0.05).The levels of IL-17 in patients with COPD during acute exacerbation was positively correlated with that of TNF-α and hsCRP(r=0.342,P=0.01 and r=0.416,P=0.001).Conclusion IL-17,TNF-α and hsCRP may be involved in the acute inflammation in COPD.